To celebrate Huck 45, curated by artist, skateboarder and chronicler of teenage California Ed Templeton, we are having a Huck website summer takeover dedicated to Ed’s longtime muse, suburbia.
In this regular series, the Suburban Youth Pop Quiz, we ask characters from our world what their suburban youth meant to them.
Fourth up is photographer and bad kid anthropologist Sandy Kim, whose nudey portfolio captures a life lived in wild abandon.
Suburban Youth Pop Quiz #4
Where did you grow up and can you describe it in three words?
The Pacific Northwest. Suburban, AZN, pride.
Who was your weirdest neighbour?
When I lived in Portland, Oregon, one of my neighbours had an active gwishin (korean ghost). It was the first and last time I have been convinced I saw a supernatural being. The neighbours eventually moved out because of it.
What was the most important record you owned?
Tupac – All Eyez On Me.
Where did the bad kids hang out?
With me. We would skip church and go to the pool hall or the DDR arcade.
Biggest fashion faux pas as a teenager?
Candy raver and emo stage.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Macaulay Culkin.
Describe your first kiss.
Twelve years old at the church playground.
What happened the first time you got drunk?
I got alcohol poisoning.
What is the naughtiest thing you did as a suburban youth?
Everything I did was naughty. I used to sneak out of my parent’s house in Portland and drive all the way to Seattle to go to huge raves. I also threw notorious house parties when my parents would go out of town and would clean the house until it was immaculate so they never found out until the Neighbourhood Watch sent a letter complaining.
What was the best party of your teenage years?
Probably a party I threw at my house but I don’t rememeber the details, that’s how I know it was great.
What’s your most embarrassing suburban youth memory?
I sharted while I was in the back seat of my friend’s car as we were crossing a railroad and for years my best friend at the time Carissa would always yell, “Railroad!” anytime we drove past the spot and people would inevitably ask. It became the bane of my teenage existence.
What was the greatest lesson you learnt during that time?
Keep it to yourself when you shart in a car full of people.
Who would you most like to see at a reunion?
My high school art teacher.
What was your first car?
Gumby, it was a used green BMW.
What was your food of choice?
Pizza and mac and cheese, still two of my favourite foods.
What was the biggest fight you ever had with your parents?
I wanted to go hang out with my friends and my mom wouldn’t let me because I was never home and I remember it escalated to the point where she threw a full box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts at me.
What book/film changed your teenage life?
Titanic.
What posters did you have on your bedroom wall?
A K-pop band called h.o.t.
Any hobbies you didn’t give up?
Liquid dancing. I still bust out my old moves at DIIV shows.
What smell reminds you most of the suburbs?
Freshly cut grass.
Huck 45 launches at Arcana Books, LA, this Saturday August 2, 4-6pm.
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